Composition contest
2023 Composition Contest
Again in 2023, young screen composers under the age of 36 are invited to write a score.
Registrations for the 2023 Composition Contest are now open. The three finalists will attend the WSA Film Music Days, including the World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony & Concert on 21 October where Brussels Philharmonic will perform their music live, after which the winner of the Sabam Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer will be announced.
Register now
You can now register to participate in the Composition Contest 2023.
Deadline for submissions is 17 May.
Composers can now register for the WSA Composition Contest. Upon payment of €75, participants will receive a confirmation email with more information and a link to the excerpt from the video game ABZÛ (Giant Squid, 2016).
Abzû is an epic descent into the depths of the sea, where players explore beautifully rendered ocean environments with fluid swimming controls. The name references a concept from the oldest mythologies, combining the two ancient words AB, meaning ocean, and ZÛ, meaning to know. ABZÛ is the ocean of wisdom.
Abzû was developed by Giant Squid Studios and published by 505 Games. The original music was composed by Austin Wintory.
Participants should carefully read the Rule Book before submitting. You can download the Rule Book below.
© Jeroen WillemsYoung international film music talents each year have the chance to participate in the WSA Film Music Composition Contest and to win the Sabam Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer, worth €2,500. Participants are invited to show their skills as a composer for screen by writing a symphonic score for a selected film or TV excerpt. The jury will choose three finalists, whose compositions will be performed by Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by Maestro Dirk Brossé, at the annual World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony and Concert. The finalists are welcome to attend the film music events at Film Fest Gent and meet professionals from the international film music industry.
2022 Winner Composition Contest: Giacomo Rita
In 2022, Giacomo Rita received the SABAM Award for Best Original Composition by a Young International Composer. In 2014, just after university, Giacomo Rita attended the Film Music Lab at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, in Rome. After this, he started working as a composer for various types of productions, such as animated and live-action films, trailers, advertising, corporate videos, production music libraries. In 2017, he won the soundtrack category of “Premio Carlo Gargioni”, and in 2018 he was selected as a finalist in Pannonia Film Music Competition. Between 2019 and 2020 he attended the Master of Fine Arts in Music for Motion Pictures and Contemporary Media at Film Scoring Academy of Europe (Irish American University). In the course of this experience he had the opportunity to work on a short film produced by the London Film School, and to record and conduct my music with the European Recording Orchestra in Sofia.
Previous winners
2022 - Giacomo Rita
2021 - Dougal Kemp
2020 - Ana Kasrashvili
2019 - Pierre Charles
2018 - Logan Nelson
2017 - Gavin Brivik
2016 - Sándor Török
2015 - Peer Kleinschmidt
2014 - Cyril Molesti
2013 - Gilles Alonzo
2012 - Valentin Hadjadj
2011 - Gabriel Heinrich
2010 - Karzan Mahmood
2009 - Christopher Slaski
2008 - Cédric Murrath
2007 - Werner Viaene
2006 - Alexis Koustoulidis
2005 - Hannes De Maeyer
2004 - Steven Prengels
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